With Star Alliance having the biggest membership of any other alliance i was just wandering if more airlines will join ( CO inclusive ) and when does an " alliance " become too much? By this i mean will Star Alliance become too full of member airlines?

Lufthansa, SWISS, SAS and Austrian in Europe. Thai, SIA, Air China, ASiana and ANA. I can appreciate Air New Zealand and SAA, as they contribute something from distant points in the world. But USairways, United and Continental, are 3 really necesary in the USA ? NO way. Air India would be a plus, but does Turkish give anything to Star.

I may be wrong, but if any US domestic airline member of Star Alliance is to be cut I would guess it would be US Airways. With CO coming on, I don't know if they were be strategically necessary anymore. Granted, no other member airline provides as much coverage here in the southeast US as they do, but I believe that between CO and UA the US is pretty well covered. I would miss their convenience, but I certainly wouldn't miss their service.

A woman drove me to drink and I didn't have the decency to thank her. - W.C. Fields

For being a 18 years member of the Mileage Plus program and a Million + Miles flyer with them, United is one of the Star Alliance original members. They are certainly not at their best at this point in time but I do not see why they should get kicked out. There is simply no reason for it.

Quoting Jfk777 (Reply 2):United and Continental, are 3 really necesary in the USA ? NO way.

There's literally no such thing as "too much" with respect to the number of alliance members, so long as the alliance maintains a reasonable level of minimum expectations amongst its members. Remember, a greater number of members means greater potential for the exploration of cost and revenue synergies.

Quoting Caetravlr (Reply 4):Granted, no other member airline provides as much coverage here in the southeast US as they do,

Amongst those 3 (CO, UA, US), no one covers the entire East coast like US does, especially the highly important "NE corridor" between BOS-LGA-DCA. For good or for worse that is the reason they are in *A. The US East Coast from Key West to Bar Harbor, is just too big and too rich of a market to ignore.

Having flown them myself when they joined Star the service levels meet the rest of the group and certainly out shine quite a few anchor members. The route network has opened up alot of destinations and TK are one of the fastest growing airlines. TK is a major asset to Star more so than some of the ailing ones currently in the alliance. Air India will also be a good choice but I have my doubts about MS.

Im eagerly awaiting CO into the alliance as for me it will give a direct non stop service to NYC from Ireland. I still hope that UA remain as I have always had good experiences with them and like their product. US Airways should be shown the door as they bring the Alliance down.

To be clear, I wasn't making a prediction, just guessing what would happen IF any of the US legacy members were to leave the alliance, voluntarily or not. As was stated earlier, their east coast coverage cannot be beat and that in and of itself is an asset to the Star Alliance. Do I wish that some of their aircraft and their service would be upgraded? Of course. Do I rely on their east coast coverage on a regular basis to get my mileage with UA? Yes.

I think that UA, CO, and US will coexist happily in the alliance for a while. However, as we have seen ANYTHING can happen in this business.

A woman drove me to drink and I didn't have the decency to thank her. - W.C. Fields

Having 3 members from the USA might not be a bad idea right now. Nobody knows which airlines will survive this current financial crisis, but I'd venture to say that some major US carriers might not make it. If, on the other hand, Star were to take the approach of OneWorld, and only admit one member from the US, then they're left with nobody in the unfortunate event that AA were not to survive. It's not the worst idea at this time to have more than one member from a major market such as the US.

Definitely yes, Star becomes too heavy to be a good, strong and efficient alliance (for members, not for frequent flyers).
In the near future; Continental, Air India, Qatar and TAM will join Star Alliance.

* Air India was invited to join Star Alliance on December 13, 2007, and is scheduled to be a full member by mid 2009. The combined entity has also confirmed that it has gained membership within Star Alliance and will expand its own network to be one of Asia's largest carriers. The formal announcement was made at the annual Star Alliance meeting on 13 December 2007. Air India is set to become a full member of Star Alliance by 2009.
- Air India Express
- Air India Regional (ex-Alliance Air)
- Indian Airlines (being merged with Air India)

* Continental Airlines On June 19, 2008 Continental Airlines and United Airlines signed an agreement which will lead to Continental's exit from SkyTeam and entry into Star Alliance as well as, pending government approval, an antitrust immunized alliance between Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada and further Star Alliance member airlines
- Continental Connection
- Continental Express
- Continental Micronesia

Potential members

* Aerolineas Argentinas the airline is observed and studied to make its entry into the alliance. Aerolineas Argentinas may join the Star Alliance in 2010.

* AiRUnion On November 16, 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and AiRUnion which might lead to AiRUnions entrance into the alliance. Both Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa will support AiRUnion's efforts.

* TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) – the airline is currently partnered with United Airlines, Lufthansa and TAP Portugal.[10]In addition to these partnerships TAM recently sign MOUs with Air Canada and Swiss International Air Lines in order to implement code share and frequent traveller agreements. Talks are on with TAM Brazil to replace Varig and restore Star Alliance to Latin America.

* Brussels Airlines announced it is officially in talks with Lufthansa in order to enter Star Alliance.

Quoting Mortyman (Reply 20):Brussels Airlines announced it is officially in talks with Lufthansa in order to enter Star Alliance.

I'm sorry but...they have as much chance of joining One World. They should join SA)">OW instead of Star. Why? Because they already code share with a lot of SA)">OW airlines: SA)">AA, BA, AY, MA and IB. SN and SA)">AA are working well together, they suit each other.
SSA)">AA should have joined SA)">OW instead of Star because they already had code shares with SA)">AA on TATL routes, SA)">OW would have had a strong presence in Africa. But...they went to Star because they had already code shares with LH. Now Star has strong presence in Africa because SA is there, and they are taking MS. And I believe that Ethiopian also is targeting Star as a future alliance.
One World has no member in Africa, expect maybe Comair in South Africa, but that's part of BA. If SN joins SA)">OW then SA)">OW will have strong presence in Africa, of course, because Sabena was always strong in Africa.
Sky Team has Kenya Air in Africa, although I'm not sure Kenya is a full member of Sky Team, but I know they work with KLM.

Two reasons why I think SN must to go to One World:-
1 - Codeshare with SA)">AA and all SA)">OW members in Europe.
2 - SN would bring to SA)">OW a strong presence in the African continent.

And third reason, the whole discussion about this topic: Star is growing too big.
Take a look at this, do you all remember the balloons you used to play with at birthday parties when you were kids? Take one, and start to blow some air in it. It's going to grow, OK. But, if you keep blowing air in it, sooner or later, it's going to explode because the inside pressure keeps growing and the balloon cannot sustain it anymore. Right? It's the same for the Star Alliance, they may not work efficiently anymore if they start welcoming too many members, like Yamatthey says.